The flyleaf on The Nix informs readers of the term's origination in Norwegian folklore. In his book the author states that a Nix "is anything you love that one day disappears, taking with it a piece of your heart." Not sure I understand his definition but I read his 635 page novel. Yes, there is loss but there is also change and gain as well.
The narrator is Samuel, whose mother disappeared early in his life. She reappears in the media accused of attacking Sheldon Packer, governor of Chicago. In truth, she threw a handful of gravel at the man - hardly an attack - but it's caught on videotape which the media loves and the politician milks for publicity.
Faye Andersen-Anderson is a teaching assistant at an elementary school. Samuel, a literature professor at a small college, has issues with a publisher to whom he promised a never delivered book and a cheating student determined to get him fired. In his off time he plays World of Elfscape, a video game on his university computer (which gets him in trouble with college authorities). He decides to write a bigraphical about his mother to satisfy the publisher. Meeting her after 20 years, he tries unsucessfully to interview her, finally resorting to researching her life to reconstruct it through people she knew while she attended college in Chicago and in her hometown. Basically, he finds that she is a victim of circumstances used by others, including a judge who is now out to get her for an incident that he believes cost him the love of a woman who was her friend.
The reader is introduced to many characters in much detail. Probably most influential were two of Samuel's childhood friends, the twins, Bishop and Bethany. She is a musical prodigy with whom he fell in love at age seven. He still thinks about her and keeps in touch. Bishop is a rebel whose derailed life evolved by a priest's sexual attentions when he was too young to understand.
The scope and subject matter seemed fragmented to this reader who felt the pieces left me hanging as he moved to another segment. Was the author combining storylines for several books? Only he knows. There were many threads and many messagages. Numerous readers applauded the book. The writing is very good and the characters well developed.
The narrator is Samuel, whose mother disappeared early in his life. She reappears in the media accused of attacking Sheldon Packer, governor of Chicago. In truth, she threw a handful of gravel at the man - hardly an attack - but it's caught on videotape which the media loves and the politician milks for publicity.
Faye Andersen-Anderson is a teaching assistant at an elementary school. Samuel, a literature professor at a small college, has issues with a publisher to whom he promised a never delivered book and a cheating student determined to get him fired. In his off time he plays World of Elfscape, a video game on his university computer (which gets him in trouble with college authorities). He decides to write a bigraphical about his mother to satisfy the publisher. Meeting her after 20 years, he tries unsucessfully to interview her, finally resorting to researching her life to reconstruct it through people she knew while she attended college in Chicago and in her hometown. Basically, he finds that she is a victim of circumstances used by others, including a judge who is now out to get her for an incident that he believes cost him the love of a woman who was her friend.
The reader is introduced to many characters in much detail. Probably most influential were two of Samuel's childhood friends, the twins, Bishop and Bethany. She is a musical prodigy with whom he fell in love at age seven. He still thinks about her and keeps in touch. Bishop is a rebel whose derailed life evolved by a priest's sexual attentions when he was too young to understand.
The scope and subject matter seemed fragmented to this reader who felt the pieces left me hanging as he moved to another segment. Was the author combining storylines for several books? Only he knows. There were many threads and many messagages. Numerous readers applauded the book. The writing is very good and the characters well developed.
I enjoyed this book. It has some ridiculously hilarious parts (the millennial student who cheated). I enjoyed the characters (mostly) and the writing is excellent. It is a story of family, friends and flawed individuals. It's an interesting journey (though I felt a bit longer than necessary) and certainly worth the read in the end.
